Prologue I: The pain is engravedThere was nothing.
Everything about his memories, his parents.
The only thing he could remember was his own name.
Other than that, he knew nothing else.
Nothing
Opening his eyes, looking at his surroundings, he discovered that he was in the wilderness.
“Wuuu…”
The sky was stained blood red.
Although that was only due to the sun setting, night was coming…
But he didn’t think so.
There was only a depleted and desolate land left surrounding him, and it was covered with…
Corpses.
Corpses.
Corpses.
Death was abundant around him.
Flowing red blood, and the crimson sky that seemed to be reflecting the colour of this blood.
This was the first scene he saw.
This was the first scene he was aware of.
War.
In the distance, although night was falling, he could still hear sounds of the war still proceeding.
The ebbing and pulsing of the light from magic.
He looked at this dazedly…
“Ah, wu…ah…”
He let out a small sound.
At this moment,
“Hey, there’s someone still living here… and it’s a brat!?”
A voice spoke from behind him.
He turned around, several men were busily working deftly.
They stole the swords and the armor from the corpses.
They cut off the fingers and took of the rings of the corpses.
These men,
“Brat! What are you doing on this battlefield? Are you robbers like us?”
Towards this, he…
“Wuuu… ah”
He was unable to speak properly.
No, could he, was he able to talk?
He didn’t even know this.
He just woke up.
He didn’t have any memories.
No, he didn’t even know what he was.
Then he turned his eyes towards those men whose attire was dirty and looked at them…
Only then, he caught sight of himself and found out.
He was still a small child.
Four, five years old perhaps?
On his body were blood smears.
It wasn’t his blood.
It was the blood flowing out from the bodies, it was crimson.
Looking at his hands, he found that they were stained red too.
At this moment,
“But it seems that you’re different from us. We have been among these dead bodies for a long time, so we won’t be so dirty like you. That means… you’re something like a child of the Roland officers? The silly n.o.bles brought their child to the battle grounds and then they died?”
Child… of the n.o.bles?
“Or is it a pleasure child from the Estabul village? Really, the things that the n.o.bles do are disgusting. Even if the other party is a child, they would do anything they like. But from that shabby outfit, you wouldn’t be a child of the n.o.bles… that’s lucky. The n.o.bles that caught you seem to be dead, eh?”
Saying this, the man spit on the bodies on the ground.
“Then what’s your name?”
Asking him that…
This, he could probably reply.
Name…
His name.
Only this, could he still remember.
“……Ryner”
He said softly. The man said irritatedly,
“Huuh!? I can’t hear. Speak louder.”
“………Ryner Lute.”
The man heard, nodded, then raised his hand…
Suddenly, he swung his hand towards Ryner’s cheek.
At that moment, the world went black.
The man’s fist struck Ryner’s face and his slender and weak body was sent flying.
He hit the corpses littering the ground…
The man said,
“This is our relationship. Understand? Ryner Lute. I will bring you to my village… but you are our slave. In this warring period, no village is so prosperous that they can raise a brat like you for free. If you want to live, then work hard. If you don’t want to work, then die. Alright, if you understand, then remove the armor and other trinkets from these corpses. Don’t lounge around. Or I’ll kill you!!”
Then he hit him again, Ryner’s world started to move.
This was the ‘world’ that he first saw.
The village he was brought to was a poor village.
It belonged to the Roland Empire…
But it was also a small village near to the fringes of the boundary Roland shared with the Estabul Kingdom…
It was a village that depended on farming…
But the war had destroyed the crops… they could only survive by selling the items that the men brought from the battle grounds.
Ryner and the other men searched for items of value, taking away the armor and ornaments on the bodies and exchanging these with money, only by doing this were they allowed into the village.
Even if they worked hard, in the end, there was only a simple dinner. In the homes, there was no one, it was only a filthy house…
It was like that every day.
But this life wasn’t as bad as he had imagined.
Everyone in this village was very poor.
Not long after, he started to form relations with the people of the village…
The people he knew and his friends increased…
Ryner learnt how to laugh.
Naturally, the abandoned house that Ryner lived in, became a secret place of gathering that the children used without being discovered by the adults…
Those days, could even be called the days of happiness.
So Ryner laughed.
Every day, he would rummage among the bodies, if he failed—no, even if he didn’t fail—the adults would still hit him.
But even so, he still felt happy.
So Ryner laughed.
Because…
He, as a person, had been accepted by the village…
But.
On this day, the setting sun seemed to be abnormally red.
Ryner returned from the battlefield, going home and saw the children gathering together like usual and playing together.
Ryner walked into the room,
“Ah, welcome back, Ryner! Was today a hard day of work?”
Everyone asked him, but Ryner happily smiled,
“It’s al…”
But his words were cut off,
“Ne ne ne, why is Ryner living alone? Why do you have to work with the adults? Where are your dad, your mom? Unless they died in the war, like my dad?”
A girl called Quill who had been frequenting here, asked with an expression of confusion.
Hearing this, Ryner shook his head,
“…I don’t know. I can’t remember. When I was aware of myself, I already had no parents.”
There were many children who lost their mother or father, or even both their parents because of this war…
But Ryner didn’t even have any memories of his parents.
Because he had just awoken.
And it was in that battle ground…
That b.l.o.o.d.y battle ground…
Then,
“Ai~”
The girl bowed her head, not understanding,
“Are you lonely, by yourself?”
Hearing this, Ryner smiled again and shook his head.
“No, because there’s everyone.”
The girl laughed.
“Then, then, let me be your Okaa-san! From today onwards, call me Okaa-san!”
As she said that, the boy by her side said,
“Ah, then then, let me be Otou-san! Ryner, call me Otou-san! Then then, I’ll be Quill’s husband, we must marry!”
Hearing this, Quill puffed up her cheeks,
“Ai~ I don’t want to marry Deel~”
“Ahwu… I’ve, I’ve been dumped~…”
Saying this, Deel laughed as he pretended to cry.
Seeing this, Ryner laughed again.
Deel was the first friend that he had made in this village.
He liked to make everyone happy, so he was well-liked by everyone.
Ryner also liked him very much.
Because he was in Ryner’s home, so the others would gather here.
So that was why Ryner had so many friends…
Ryner laughed again.
He felt that every day was a happy one.
Everyone was so lonely that they couldn’t even feel full after eating…
But even so, he felt that being able to laugh with everyone, that was bliss.
He felt that it was really good that he was taken in by this village.
But…
There was an explosion in the distance.
Once, twice, thrice…
They were already accustomed to these sounds, it was the explosions from the offensive magic.
Although the sounds were distant, they slowly drew near, towards this area…
Suddenly, the village became tense…
The door was slammed open, and,
“Quill!? Why are you still here! Come quickly! The army… army again… some people were… this village is going to be involved in this war again!”
Quill’s mother rushed in and dragged her out.
At the same moment, the children ran out…
Ryner walked out of the house too.
By this time, the explosions from the magic had drawn nearer.
There was the flash of lightning, the dancing flames.
And fear, every time this happened, there were always people dying.
And there was a war happening in the villages nearby…
The destructive magic would quickly descend upon this village.
Before that happened, they had to escape from here…
Everyone ran towards the opposite direction from the battle.
Ryner followed too…
This time, maybe he would be able to escape without harm.
Even if the village was destroyed, as long as they lived…
But…
Just as Ryner and the others felt that the s.p.a.ce before them was contorting, there was an explosion…
“Wha…”
From the dancing dust particles, several armored men emerged.
Then…
“Stay. If you don’t remain still, we’ll kill you.”
They said.
Of course, they couldn’t not stand still.
The opponents could use magic, they were trained soldiers.
They wouldn’t win.
“Wu…”
Ryner and the others couldn’t help but moan, the situation was quite dangerous.
These men said they were going to kill Ryner and the others, who were citizens of Roland, which meant that they were the enemy Estabul soldiers.
Then, they would become sacrifices…
Or in other words, they would be slaughtered because the other party wanted to kill…
No matter what was the ending, if they were really caught like this, it would not be good…
In this period of time that Ryner took to think, the dust cloud dissipated, they could clearly see the men in front of them…
At that moment, Ryner couldn’t help but doubt what he was seeing.
The insignia on the armor of the men in front of them… guns and that insignia that portrayed a snake coiling around a gun.
This was…
It was Roland Empire’s…
The men of the village relaxed momentarily…
“What, so you are the soldiers of Roland. Really, don’t scare us. We thought it was Estabul’s… Ah…”
But the man’s words were cut off…
One of the Roland soldiers suddenly stabbed the man in the chest with his sword…
The man had an uncomprehending expression,
“…Ai…wh,why…”
Saying this, blood gushed from his mouth and he collapsed.
They couldn’t understand.
This army should be the Roland soldiers, but they were killing the men of the village, who were the people of Roland.
In that moment, there was no sound.
No, because it was too sudden, no one was able to make a sound.
Then…
The women who finally understood what was happening,
“Ah…”
They cried, but the sword sank into the chests of these women…
The cries suddenly stopped.
The remaining women covered their mouths, the parents clasped their hands over their children’s mouths… frantically trying to stop them from screaming.
If they made a noise, they would be killed.
That was what the Roland soldiers were demonstrating to them through their actions.
Confirming that they understood what they wanted, the Roland soldiers slowly, as if they wanted to look at all of the features of the villagers, slowly moved their eyes…
Using a calm voice,
“…What we are about to do now, you will not see it. What we are about to do now, you will not talk of it to anyone. What we are about to do now, you will accept everything. Even if you cry, or resist, this will not be allowed. If you dare to resist…”
At this moment, the sword flashed again, someone died.
“Just like that.”
Someone…died.
Someone died, meaninglessly, completely meaninglessly died.
Companions, friends, people they knew were killed… Everyone desperately held in the cries that they wanted to release.
An abnormal scene.
Bodies, were faintly trembling…
Then, the armored Roland soldiers turned around. At this moment, they noticed it.
There was a luxuriously decorated carriage that was bejeweled that they had never seen before. The soldiers walked towards the carriage,
“The preparations are complete.”
“Yes.”
The door of the carriage opened.
An abnormally slim, around fifty years old man appeared.
He wore a loose outfit that they had never seen before, it was made of the softest material.
They understood just by looking at this man.
This man was a n.o.ble.
n.o.ble…
The n.o.ble nodded his head with a ‘yes’, seeming to be quite happy.
“Interesting. How interesting.”
He said.
He came down from the carriage and walked towards the villagers, as if inspecting them, looking at Ryner and the others.
No, what the man was seeing were the girls.
And he was choosing the children who were young… and around Ryner’s age…
A girl was chosen. Ryner had not talked to her… but he had seen her.
This girl was sent to the carriage by the soldiers. What would happen to the girl, everyone knew it well…
The adults’ expression contorted as if they were about to cry, but even so, they said nothing.
If they said anything… they would be killed.
Their bodies were trembling.
Ryner could only feel his body trembling.
Because of anger?
Because of fear?
Because of reluctance?
His body was faintly trembling.
But the n.o.ble didn’t seem to think of going back on his intentions.
He selected another girl…
This moment, he nearly let out a sound.
This girl was Quill…
It was the girl who was talking to Ryner earlier.
It was the girl who smiled innocently and told him that if he was lonely, she would be his mother.
The n.o.ble hit Quill’s head with a ‘pa’, and the Roland soldiers prepared to take her away…
At this moment, her mother,
“Pl-Please, let go of my daught…”
But she only spoke that far.
The mother’s chest was stabbed with a sword…
“NOOoooooooooooo!?”
Quill cried.
Ryner could only tremble at this moment.
Why did this…
Mad.
He thought.
Everyone, everything was mad.
He thought.
He was unable to stop trembling.
And the trembling could not be stopped.
Quill was taken away…
Couldn’t do anything.
He himself couldn’t do…
Suddenly, there was a shout from the crowd.
“I, I won’t let you take Quill away!”
This voice was Deel’s.
Deel shouted…
When Ryner’s eyes turned in that direction, he had already run out.
Towards Quill…
He was very fast, he dodged the sword of a soldier and headed towards the soldier who was carrying Quill…
“Return Quill…”
But his voice stopped.
The soldier carrying Quill had drawn a magical structure and there were flames…
The flames sprung towards Deel.
In that moment.
Ryner was unable to believe what was happening in front of him.
Disappeared.
Literally disappeared.
Deel he…
Was drawn into the overwhelmingly strong flames and became ashes in a moment…
What was left, was the front portion of the hand that Deel had been reaching out…
In the moment he saw this,
“Ah…”
Ryner couldn’t help but let out a sound.
A tremor that slowly, slowly build up…
He didn’t know why but his eyes, his eyes ached
His eyes ached tremendously.
The surrounding scene was stained with red.
The evening sky…
Was more crimson that usual…
That red, made him think of a scene.
It was that scene that he had seen when he first awoke.
That scene were the land was covered with corpses and everything was covered with blood.
An empty feeling in his body.
Although he wanted to protect everything, everything seemed to be helpless…
People died.
People died.
At that moment, he unconsciously raised his hand.
This hand started to draw a magical formation.
It was a glowing formation.
This was the magical formation that the Roland soldier had drawn earlier.
This magical formation was drawn by Ryner.
He had no memory of drawing this magical formation.
But he could draw it.
He only looked at it.
He only looked at what the soldier had drawn…
But even so, he could still draw it.
All of the magical structure.
Structure.
Activation sequence.
Design.
He just needed to see.
It was only like that, but all of this seemed to be mastered by him already.
No, it was as if he could understand all of the world, a feeling that he was able to do anything.
He softly and determinedly chanted.
“WHAT I SEEK IS BURNING FIELDS>>>KURENAI”
In that moment.
Flames emerged from the magical formation and burned the soldier who had grabbed Quill.
“What!? There, there is someone who can use magic! Kill him! Kill him quickly!?”
Because of this sudden attack, the soldiers panicked, they shouted…
Then, a soldier pulled out his sword and two soldiers started to chant a magical incantation at the same time.
But Ryner looked at this.
His left and right hand started to draw different magical formations…
And it neutralized the magic of the Roland soldiers forcefully…
Towards this…
“Im,impossible!? That brat, what is he… he caused our magic to…”
He had not finished speaking when his surprised expression turned into one of fear.
Looking at Ryner.
“…That, what is that… eyes… it’s the eyes… ev-everyone, look, look at his eyes… that red five-pointed star… that boy is a wielder of Alpha Stigma!”
A wielder of Alpha Stigma…
This phrase had never been heard before.
But from that man’s expression, it was obvious.
This thing, was unfortunately, something that was to be feared.
Even so…
Ryner took a step forward.
The soldiers backed away in fear immediately.
“Oh, oh no… Lord Alrome. We, we should retreat first… Alpha Stigma was truly too dangerous…”
Towards this, the n.o.bleman with his ugly and contorted face nodded and escaped, thinking to escape to the carriage… At this moment, Ryner shouted.
“Release those girls in there! If you don’t do it, I’ll kill you!”
The n.o.bleman immediately let go of the girls in the carriage frantically, then he escaped in his carriage.
The soldiers left with the carriage too.
Although this was unbelievable, Ryner had chased away the Roland soldiers.
Although he himself was not clear, why he had this sort of power…
But he had stopped it… stopped Quill from being taken away by them.
Even though Deel died…
But, perhaps from this day onwards, he would be able to protect the villagers.
He had thought so.
Perhaps he would be able to help the village that had picked him up…
Ryner checked that that carriage had disappeared from his side, he breathed a sigh of relief, as if his nerves had been about to snap because of the tension…
He recovered his smile and looked around him.
The people of the village.
He looked at the faces of the villagers he had just protected.
But.
He didn’t know why but the villagers’ expressions…
Were like the expression of the n.o.bleman…
It was an expression of abnormal fear, a contorted expression and they were looking at Ryner…
It was an expression of revulsion as if they were looking something dirty.
Ryner looked…
“…What, what is it, everyone… why do you have that kind of expression…”
But he had not finished speaking when a man of the village spoke with a trembling voice,
“Those eyes… Talrome that guy, why did he pick up something like that!”
He shouted, Ryner couldn’t understand,
“Ai, that…”
But he was interrupted.
“Ryner, you have always been keeping this from us, right? Always lying to us?”
“That, everyone, what are you saying…”
He completely didn’t understand.
What everyone was talking about.
The event had happened suddenly.
It was a sudden change.
But, but, everyone, everyone, was using an expression of hatred to stare at Ryner,
“It’s, it’s all your fault! Because there is an unlucky cursed brat like you, everyone is unhappy!”
“Ah… wait, everyone… I…”
But he didn’t finish speaking.
Everyone turned to Ryner and said together,
“Monster!”
They shouted.
“Die, you monster!”
“You even dare to stay in our village, unshamed, monster!”
“A cursed monster who only knows how to ma.s.sacre!!”
Monster…
Yes, everyone called him that.
A monster who killed people…
Mon…ster…
He didn’t understand.
He had thought that he had saved everyone…
He had thought that they would be able to return to those happy days of the past.
Although they were poor, although they faced hardships, but everyone was able to laugh and survive every day…
But…
At this moment, his eyes met with a girl.
It was Quill.
But even Quill stared at Ryner…
As if using looking at a disgusting bug, that expression of revulsion.
“Why do you…look at me in that way…”
Still, still, the sky was stained with red.
A crimson red.
A cursed red that made one feel dizzy…
At that moment, Ryner’s black eyes…
Showed a crimson five-pointed star…
These eyes were called Alpha Stigma, they seemed to be hated and cursed by the people…
This thing seemed to cause everyone’s expression to contort in this way, caused them to curse and hate him.
He was called a monster.
But he himself was unable to deny it.
Because he had no memories.
He had no memories of the time before he had awoken in that battle field.
No parents.
No memories.
He didn’t even remember who he was.
Then…
Even if he were called a monster, he would be unable to deny it.
His eyes wavered.
Everything was stained with red.
Everything in the world had distanced themselves from him.
There was only a sense of detachment.
If anyone wanted to be close to him, only by being close to him they would understand, he was not wished for by anyone.
He used the eyes where the red curse appeared in, to look at the expression of fear and revulsion that appeared on their faces.
Ryner thought.
I see.
I am…
A monster…
That was, when Ryner became a monster…
The first day.